Three men arrested after attempt to defraud elderly woman of €10,000

GARDAI have arrested three men after they attempted to defraud a woman in her 80s out of €10,000 at her bank.

The men, from the Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, cut down a number of trees at the woman’s home and did some painting at her house.

The typical cost of such work would come to a few hundred euro. But the men charged the woman several thousand euro and brought her to her bank to withdraw the money. Bank staff got suspicious when she asked to withdraw such a large sum and alerted the gardaí.

A patrol car nearby approached the bank and officers acting on the tip-off arrested the men outside the bank and quizzed them before they were released.

The men called to the woman’s house and persuaded her the work needed to be done, one local said. They told her the trees in particular were interfering with power lines and could pose a safety threat.

She felt intimidated by the men and agreed that they do the job. They then demanded the large sum.

Local sergeant Jim Doyle urged the public to be vigilant when dealing with callers to their homes.

People should ask for official ID when those claiming to be from the ESB, phone company, local council or other groups call to their door, looking for access to their homes, he said. There have been complaints that people posing as gardaí have tried to get access to homes. “It is a very serious offence to pretend to be anyone you are not, trying to gain access to a person’s home to defraud or rob them.

“The men we arrested in the latest case will hopefully be brought before the courts. The situation is that companies have proper ID cards.

“Anyone going to the front door of anyone’s house has to identify themselves. If someone arrives at your door without proper ID, do not admit them,” Sgt Doyle said.